


who wears the crown

by mythicbeast



Category: Immortals - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-09
Updated: 2011-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-24 10:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/262629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicbeast/pseuds/mythicbeast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two days in Carthak, and Rikash was already sick of the smell of incense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	who wears the crown

Two days in Carthak, and Rikash was  _already_  sick of the smell of incense. It hardly mattered that Ozorne no longer had a care for the gods: a hundred generations of worshippers had left the very  _stones_  reeking of smoke and ash. 

Everything here was gilded. Even the slaves, if they were important enough for it, gold dusted across their skin and painted around their eyes and wrapped around their throats. Marks of power, speaking of their master's wealth and influence, but also marks of bondage. Such precious trinkets were a surety that they would never be allowed to leave their master's side. 

Rikash was  _also_  becoming heartily fed up with politics. 

"Such an expression, for one so young," Barzah Razorwing's voice, dry as only centuries of immortal life could make it, echoed around the emperor's menagerie. "Keep making that face and you'll find it stuck that way for the rest of your life." If the other immortals heard her voice, or found it amusing that the Stormwing queen was tutting at Rikash like a nursemaid, they gave no sign. Either they were bound in mage-woven illusions (unlikely; Ozorne only seemed to care about the comfort of his  _mortal_  captives) or they simply did not care.

Grimacing, Rikash shifted his weight, hearing the (blessedly gold-free) bars under his feet creak. "Jokhun lied," he answered, repeating the words for what felt like the umpteenth time. "He'll have a lot to answer for once this is brought before the others of the Stone Tree nation--"

"Enough," Barzah snapped, and Rikash shut his mouth, swallowing down the fury that made his voice rise. "Even if Jokhun were to lose his place as king, what then? Even if every Stormwing from here to the ends of the Divine Realms were to fly against the emperor mage to free us, they would only die in vain." The queen shook her head. "It makes little enough difference to most, who wears the crown that leads them. They will not fight for me, Moonsword."

Prickling at the use of the name-- which, until just recently, someone  _else_  he thought of less fondly had remarked upon-- Rikash shook his head, the bones threaded into his hair clicking against each other. "I never planned on raising an army to begin with, your majesty. No offense meant, of course." He bared his teeth.

"Of course. And yet you come to us with talk of wanting to help us take our rightful place." Barzah offered a mocking smile. "Tell me then, clever boy, how you plan to free us-- all by yourself?"

"Easily enough." Rikash grinned, unpleasantly. "I'll just have to gamble with the gods."

**Author's Note:**

> Intended to be mid-Emperor Mage, sort of a filling in the gaps scene. Rikash is still my favorite character in this series, bizarrely enough.


End file.
